A Valentine's Day Surprise
by Genevieve Thibeault
Summary: What happens when a secret admirer gives Niles a romantic rendezvous at Le Cigare Volant?


"A Valentine's Day Surprise"

By Genevieve Thibeault

I put on my blue suit, combed my hair, and looked in the mirror. For the first time in years I had somebody in my life for Valentine's Day. I would finally do something else than dreaming about Daphne all night long. Since...the incident, I had pretty much given up on Daphne. Maybe it was all I needed to move on after all. Daphne Douglas...I just can't get used to it. In my mind, in my heart and soul, when I was daydreaming, I always thought of her as Daphne Crane. The woman I love, the woman who would eventually become my wife, the woman who gave me hope one last time only to crash my world once again. Daphne Douglas...what kind of name is that?

I took the invitation and read it again. It was pretty funny to think that Mel would send me a Valentine...unsigned. All there was on the card was "Meet me at 'Le Cigare Volant', 8 o'clock. I have a surprise for you. Love, your secret admirer." The card was typed, so I couldn't guess by the handwriting, but it was obvious that it was Mel. Secret admirer...what a secret! But it would be fun to play along. After all, Mel was trying to spice up our relationship, and God knows there was a lack in that department. No spark, no spice, just a platonic relationship. I wondered once again what kind of relationship I would have had with Daphne if we would have give it a try. OK, if I would have had the nerves to ask her. I know how it would have been, who am I kidding? I would have swept her of her feet, I would have been the only man she'd ever want for the rest of her life, I would have been the best lover she'd ever been with. Not because I consider myself as being amazingly good, but because making love to Daphne would give me wings to fly.

"Stop fantasizing!" I ordered myself. "You're meeting Mel, not Daphne!"

And on that note I closed the door behind me.

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DRING! DRING! DRING! DRING!

"Hello, this is Niles Crane. I'm not here, but leave a message."

BIP!

"Hello Niles, it's Mel. Do you know what day it is today? In case you haven't notice, IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY! I was hoping you would call me and ask me out but you didn't. So I'll spend the night home, waiting for your apologies. I can't believe how insensitive you are!"

CLICK.

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Everything changed the day the Cranes went back from their Millennium trip. I remember every bit of it.

I was at the door, waiting for them to come back. I missed them a lot; the apartment was always so empty when they weren't there. However, as soon as the door opened I always took it back and couldn't wait for the next they'd leave. But it would not be an issue anymore, since I'd move out to live with Donny.

They finally came home, and to my surprise Niles was there too. I thought they would drop him home, but then remembered that he left his car here before they left. Since that night we talked on the balcony, I didn't know what to do when he was there. He took me off guard once, and I didn't want it to happen again. The only way to do it was to be distant with him. I welcomed them back, hugged Frasier and Martin, and they both went to their room to unpack. The only situation that I wanted to avoid was happening: I was alone with Niles. It was then that I noticed he had a gift in his hands.

"Daphne, I'm glad we're alone. There's something I have to give you." he said.

"Why?" I asked, suspiciously.

"I never gave you your Christmas present, remember? Well, I was going to replace the gift I bought in the first place, but when I saw this I thought it was perfect for you."

My heart started beating faster. Why did he have do be so caring? Why can't I look at him without my heart going crazy? Why did he have to be Niles Crane, and not Donny Douglas?

I looked at him. That was my first mistake. Because since I've learned that he was in love with me I looked at him differently. I was seeing the man and not the friend. I noticed every little detail about him: the blue of his eyes, his shyness when he was around me, the way he played with his hands when he was nervous. Everything. And the more I saw Niles the less I saw Donny. I was falling once again.

I opened my gift. It was a golden chain, with a little boy sitting on a moon pendant hanging from it. On the card with the gift was written: "To the brightest of Moons. Love, Niles."

I stayed silent. It was one of the sweetest things anyone ever gave me. And it had to come from the man I was trying to avoid.

"Do you like it? 'Cause if you don't I can always take it back..."

"No!" I said, a little too quickly. "Thank you very much. I love it."

"Wanna try it on?"

"I'd love to!"

That was my second mistake. He went behind me, slipped the chain around my neck, and passed his hand in my hair to be able to hang it. By doing this, his fingers stroke my neck lightly. Whether it was intentional or not I couldn't tell, but I shivered from head to toe. And all the strength that was left in me faded away. I closed my eyes, and I felt his fingers on my neck, trying desperately to hang the chain. When he hung it, I felt his thumb caressing the back of my neck; the tension between us was unbearable.

My third mistake was to turn around. And to see him look at me like I've never been looked at. It was a mix of sadness, of love, of tenderness, of renunciation. He had given up. I could see it in his eyes. And I was responsible for that. He looked at the chain, unable to look me in the eyes, and with a trembling voice he said something I hoped he would never say.

"I'm gonna miss you so much, Daphne, it hurts like hell to think about it. You have no idea how much you mean to me. How much I..."

"I know Niles, I know." was all I was able to answer.

He raised his head; his eyes were filled with tears. I couldn't take it anymore. I took him in my arms, held him very tight, and whispered the first words that came into my mind.

"I'm sorry for what I've done, Niles. And I'm sorry for what I'll do right now."

That was my last mistake. And the biggest. Because after that there was no turning back for me. Because after that there would be no more Donny.

I put my head on his shoulder and gave him a kiss on the neck. Which led to a kiss on the cheek. Which led to the softness of his lips. I kissed him very softly, with all the tenderness I had in me, wanting to kiss his pain away.

A tear fell down his cheek. He looked at me with so much sadness in his eyes that I was on the verge of crying myself. It was then that he said it, and I realized that what I did was wrong.

"Why do you do this to me, Daphne? Why? Am I some kind of toy you can play with and push aside when you're tired of it? Can't you see that every time you hug me, everytime you touch me, everytime you kiss me, you're breaking my heart? Can't you see that you marrying Donny is killing me? Can't you see that I'm completely in love with you?"

He looked me in the eyes for a moment; we were both crying at that point.

"I'm sorry." was all I could say.

And then he left. And he took my heart with him.

When Frasier came back in the living room, there was no more Niles, and I was on the couch, crying like a baby. When I realized that he was standing there, I went to my room, closed the door, and cried myself to sleep. Since...the incident, I haven't seen him.

At that point I think I could have managed to marry Donny. I think. I will never know because I didn't even have the occasion of testing that theory. Donny broke up with me 2 weeks after...the incident.

I'm not angry at him, because I would have done the same thing if it was him who would have done something like that. I'm not proud of it, but it confirmed what I was thinking all along. I just wish I could have told him...well...somewhere else.

We were going to bed, one night, and Donny was in the mood. I can't say that I was, but since...the incident, Donny and I hadn't...well, you know what I mean. But that night I couldn't escape it. So we started making love, and I got caught in it, and this is when it happened. I yelled out a name.

I yelled out Niles instead of Donny.

Talk about killing a mood. He went totally crazy, and started yelling, and all he was saying was "I knew it!". When he calmed down, he gave me THE speech.

"You want Niles? You got him! I've known it all along. I've seen the way you look at him, the way he looks at you, this little flirtation between you two, do you think I'm blind or something? I was hoping you would tell me before the wedding, but I never ever thought you would do this to me. I mean, IN BED! Just get out! I wish I never met you in the first place!"

And that was it. I took a cab and went back to the apartment. The whole thing took about 2 minutes. And I was single again. I can't say that I was sad or anything, I was kind of relieved. And maybe it had something to do with Niles after all. Because since... the incident I had those dreams that I was making love with him. And I missed him a lot, like you miss the man you...love. There. I said it. I love Niles. And if I have any luck he still does. All I had to do was find a way to get his attention. A way to meet him without him knowing that it's me. And I found a way.

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8 o'clock. 'Le Cigare Volant'. And still no sign of Mel. I arrived at 7:45, to be sure I would not be late, because Mel was never late. There was a table for two under the name of Niles Crane for that night, so it could only mean that she would come. I sat down, drank some water, and waited for Mel to arrive.

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8 o'clock. 'Le Cigare Volant'. Way too nervous to go in there. What I was doing was a shot in the dark, but it was the only way I found to tell him that I loved him. A secret admirer...maybe 'admirer' was a little too much, but hey, it's Valentine's Day. You can do what you want when you're in love on Valentine's Day. And I was there, outside one of the most exclusive restaurant of Seattle, trying to find the courage to get in there. It took me 15 minutes, but I finally did it.

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8:15. Still waiting. Dreaming that it was Daphne instead of Mel I was waiting for. Daphne Moon, the woman I love, even if she'll never know it. Sure I could go and tell her, but it would be stupid. She was happy, and I couldn't do anything about it. But still it could have been amazing. Oh hell, it would have been heavenly. Waking up every morning next to her, being able to kiss her when I wanted to, making love to her all night long, caressing...

Well, maybe I should stop right there. 'Cause I could do something stupid like calling Mel Daphne. I came this close so many times, thinking of Daphne that way wasn't helping much. But still, if it was Daphne instead of Mel that I would take back home tonight after a romantic dinner, if it was Daphne that would drink wine with me in front of a fire, if it was Daphne whom I would undress, Daphne that...

"Sir?"

Damn.

"The lady had arrived, Sir, and she wants you to close your eyes."

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and waited for Mel. Mel who would never be Daphne.

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He was there. He came. And he was gorgeous. Once again I wondered how could I have been so blind all these years. But maybe there was a part of me who knew all along, but was too scared to even consider the idea. Because he was Niles, sophisticated Niles, who had dates with important people, who knew all kinds of things I didn't know, who was married with money and fame. I was, or had, none of those things. But he fell for me anyway. And I was there, at the door, watching his every move, fascinated. I knew I loved him. I knew he loved me. Something that feels so right can't be wrong.

When the waiter came back and told me that he was waiting for me, I took all my strength (at least what was left of it) and walked toward him. I stood behind him, took a deep breath (I was so nervous I thought I would have a heart attack) and pressed my lips on his neck. He shivered. And I was going crazy. I made him shiver. I never made anyone shiver before. And I knew that if I allowed him to touch me right now I would shiver too. And that's what magic is. Its the attraction between two people. It's our attraction. It's us. Us.

I sat down in front of him, his eyes still closed, and I could feel desire arise in him. I wanted him so bad. It was then that I kissed him. Like I never kissed anybody else before. So passionately that the whole world melted around us.

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I knew it wasn't Mel. The woman facing me could not be Mel. Because Mel wasn't that passionate, Mel couldn't make me dizzy, Mel didn't smell so heavenly, Mel wasn't there.

Daphne was. I knew it. It couldn't be anybody else.

I opened my eyes. And she was there. My Daphne. The most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on was facing me, smiling at me. Me. Not Donny. And I was so confused I started babbling, unable to think clearly. Daphne kissed me...was I dreaming?

"What..."

But she shut me up with a kiss. To which I answered with 7 years of desire, 7 years of retained passion, 7 years of love. I was hanging to her desperately, hoping that the dream would not end, 'cause it seemed so real, and she smelled so good, and she was driving me crazy, and I loved her to death. If Heaven is a place on Earth, it has to be right here, right now.

"I love you Niles" was the answer that she gave me.

"Then I really am dreaming!"

I looked at her. I knew I would eventually wake up, but for the moment all I could hear was the echo of her declaration: I love you Niles, I love you Niles, I love you Niles...

"When did you change your mind?"

"When I finally really saw you. Not the friend, not the brother, but the man. The one who cares for me, the one who loves me, the one I love."

"You knew I was in love with you? How did it happen? For how long have you known? Why didn't you say something?"

"It's not important. What's important is that we are here, facing each other, and that I can hope you still feel the same way you did. Do you still love me Niles?"

I took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. And I finally was able to tell her. Because what I wanted to say for 7 years was what she wanted to hear. And because I never loved her as much as I did at that moment.

"For seven years, I wasn't able to love anybody else but you, to think about anybody else than you, to desire any other woman than you. I love you, and will love you, for the rest of my life, Daphne Moon. And if my soul ever forget you soul, if my eyes ever forget your eyes, it will be because I've gone mad, and not because I lost my love for you. I will never stop loving you."

I took her in my arms, held her very tight, and kissed her very slowly. We must have been very funny to watch, but I just didn't care. I loved her. She loved me. And that's all that mattered. And nothing could be more perfect than that. It was then that she whispered it in my ears.

"Wanna skip dinner?"

Well...nothing could be more perfect...except that.

The End


End file.
